Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has hit back at FBI Director Kash Patel via a statement on Tuesday, after Kash claimed in an interview that local authorities hindered the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 80-year-old mother of Today star Savannah Guthrie.
The grandmother was reported missing on February 1 from her home in Tucson, Arizona, after failing to show up for church service. In the three months since her disappearance, there have been few leads in the case, and no arrests have been made.
Kash spoke on the Hang Out with Sean Hannity podcast on Tuesday, and alleged that the sheriff and local authorities refused the FBI's help for four days before allowing them involvement in the case.
© NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal viaHe also claimed that the FBI was ready to take DNA samples for testing at its lab in Quantico, Virginia, but the sheriff sent the samples to a private lab in Florida instead. "It is a state matter. It's a state and local law enforcement matter. What we, the FBI, do is say, 'Hey, we're here to help. What do you need? What can we do?' And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation," he said on the podcast.
He added that when the FBI were let in on the investigation, they made great strides in the case, including uncovering footage from Nancy's Ring camera of a masked man approaching her door. "We went in and got the Ring doorbell [footage]. And we said, 'Hey. Is anyone talking to Google?'" Kash recalled.
"I called the leadership at Google, and I said, 'Look, we know that there was not [a] subscription service to capture all of the data that would have been captured had there been a subscription service. But can we go into the cache? Can we go into the data before it's deleted and see what we can find?' That's why you have that image, because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out."
© Hang Out with Sean Hannity/YouTube"We could have gotten it days before," he added. "We could have also maybe gotten more data." Kash then claimed the FBI had a plane ready to take the DNA samples and start testing them, only to be hindered by the local authorities. "We said, 'We will take the DNA.' And again, it's a state and local matter. So it's their call on where to send the DNA," he said.
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"We have Quantico, best lab in the world. I had a fixed-wing aircraft on the ground, ready to move it immediately through the night. And they said, 'We're sending it to Florida.'…They have jurisdiction, so it's their call."
The sheriff refuted Kash's claims on X mere hours after the podcast interview went live with a statement that read: "Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is aware of FBI Director Kash Patel's recent interview and statement. Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight."
© Getty Images"A member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and present at that scene working alongside our personnel," he continued. "The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family. While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay."
© Getty ImagesSheriff Nanos added: "Decisions regarding evidence processing were made on scene based on operational needs. The laboratory utilized by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI Laboratory in Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outset and continue to collaborate in the analysis of evidence."
He concluded by declaring that the department was "committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact-based investigation, and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward".
